Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A Time for Names

Parents have the right in most countries to name their children as they wish.Some names are chosen for their popularity while others for their meaning.Calling a girl Yaffa or Tova, Hebrew names, may place a burden on her because they mean pretty and good, respectively.Of course, there is little worse than Cher calling her daughter Chastity.

A curious serious of selective names involve the seasons.Some Israeli parents name their children Stav and Aviv, meaning autumn and spring.By contrast, kayitz and horef, summer and winter, are unheard of.By contrast, in English, Summer and Autumn as first names exist, but are rare where as spring and winter are basically ignored.

In terms of months, the spring months are generally preferred as sources of first names, specifically April, May, and June.Although July and August are named after Julius Caesar and Augustus, they don’t seem to have caught on with the general public unless all those Julies and Julias are actually named after a month, which may be technically true.The fall and winter are dead as far as names go.

The only names of days that pop in the mind are Wednesdayas a first name in the Adams Family series and Friday as a last name in the Dragnet series.

It can be safely said in English and Hebrew that there is basically no good time for a name.